Ice cube grid



Feb. 13, 1940.

R. H. MONEY ET AL ICE CUB-E TRAY GRID Filed Oct. 11, 1937,

INVENTORS. [Faun/v0 H MONEY,

ATTORNEYS.

m' HOMER Jams-s.

dean aw Patented Feb. 13, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE @2222...

Roland H. Money and Homer Jones, Cincinnati, Ohio, asslgnors to TheCrosley Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio ApplicationOctober 11, 1937, Serial No. 168,326

2 Claims.

This invention relates to ice cube tray grids such as are used currentlyin combination with ice trays in domesticrefrigerators for the purposeof causing the ice to form in cubes. More particularly this inventionrelates to a grid which may be manipulated for freeing the ice cubestherefrom in a simple and economical manner.

Conventional procedure in freeingcubes from an ice .tray involvesholding the tray under a stream of hot or cold water until the block ofice which is frozen around the grid is freed from the tray and thenrunning either not or cold water over the block to which the grid isfrozen until the individual cubes are freed from the 5 grid.

This procedure is relatively slowand is unpleasant because it involvesholding the icecubes which makes the hands. uncomfortably cold andwater, involves the use of additional power for freezing.

With" the above factors in mind it is an object 0 of our' invention toprovide a device which is cheap and simple in construction, ,so that itcould be made a part of standard ice cube trays,

or which could be sold as an accessory for use in existing trays, whichrenders it possible to free a number of cubes less than the whole numberin the tray, and which will permit the unused cubes to remain inposition in the tray, whereby unused cubes are not wasted, as inconventional procedures.

It is another object of our invention to provide a device of thecharacter described by means of which a portion of the cubes in the traymay be removed manually without pouring water over the tray, so that thecubes when'freed for use, have not been reduced in mass by the meltingincident to conventional procedures where running water is used.

It is a further object of our invention to provide a devicc as aboveoutlined, .which will be 0 easy to clean, inasmuch as it consists ofonly a few parts.

These andpther objects of our invention we accomplish by thatconstruction and arrangement of parts of which we shall now describe anexemplary embodiment. Other object will appear-to those skilled in theart upon reading this specification.

Reference is now made to the drawing forming a part hereof, and inwhich:

Figure 1 is a plan view of an ice cube tray, 5 and a grid, according toour invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal elevation thereof with the tray in section.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the grids.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the members interfitting with thegrid, and 0 Fig. 6 is a pei'spective 'view of the actuating lever. I V

Bri'efiy in the practice of our invention we provide a grid'of more orless conventional form which is of a. length less than that of the tray,and which will preferably be of a length which isan aliquot part of thelength of the tray.

For purposes of description only, we have illustrated a two-piece gridor rather two grids, each of which is half the length of the tray. We

provide a breaking member adapted to fit over the grids; and having legsextending in between the transverse fins. 0n the breaking member.

I we mount pivotally a lever having a cam portion to produce relativemovement between the breaking member and the grid, and wepreferably-provide the legs above mentioned with feet extendingoutwardly from the divider.

For example, if it is desired to remove half of the cubes in the tray,the actuating lever on one of the breaking members is raised manually tothe position indicated in Fig. 2, whereby relative movement is producedbetween the grid and the breaking member. By virtue of the fact that thelegs of the breaking member are provided with feet, the individual cubeswill be withdrawn from the trayby the breaking member, and may readilybe removed therefrom manually;

We have shown in Fig. 4, one of the grids according to our invention.This grid consists of a divider l0, and a number of transverse fins Ii.The divider I0 is provided at one end with a raised portion l2,providing a curved surface H.

In Fig. 5, we have shown a breaking member according to our invention,generally indicated at I. The member l4 may be made from, a piece ofsheet metal bent centrally to provide two closely spaced walls, and thewalls are slotted as indicated at ii, for passage of the fins II. Theslotting as at l5, provides a number of leg members 16, which wepreferably provide with the 55 outwardly extending feet l1. Adjacent oneend of the member l4, we eliminate the connecting portion I8 between thetwo sets of legs, and provide aligned perforations l9.

The actuating member 20 is shown in detail in Fig. 6, and comprises ahandle portion 2|, and a cam portion 22, which is perforated as at 23,so that it may be pivotally mounted upon themember l4 by means of a pinor rivet 24, passing through the perforations l9 and 23.

It will now be clear that when the member I4 is placed in position overthe grid member of Fig. 4, the handle member 20 being in a horizontalposition, the assembly may be placed in a tray and ice will freeze inand between the fins on the grid and the legs on the breaking element.As above stated, one or more of these grids may be provided for thetray, although we prefer to provide at least two so that it is possibleto remove a number of cubes less than the whole number contained in thetray. When it is desired to remove a number of ice cubes, the member 2|is raised to the position indicated at the right hand side of Fig. 2,whereupon the eccentric portion 22 rides up on the curved surface l3 onthe divider whereby the breaking element I4 is raised to the positionshown at the right hand side of Fig. 2. This .movement breaks the bondbetween the tray and the divider, and the member l4 may now be withdrawnand the cubes which have adhered to the leg member I6 and feet ll, maybe removed from the member l4 manually.

It is to be understood that it is within the scope of our invention toprovide a single grid extending the entire length of a tray, the gridbeing according to our invention, but we have found it preferable toprovide two or three short grids to take up the length of the tray, sothat a small number of cubes may be used without wasting the entirenumber.

It is also within the scope of our invention to provide two grids, oneof which extends onethird the length of the tray, and the other of whichextends two-thirds the length of the tray, so that if a very smallnumber of cubes is required, the short grid may be used, while if alarger number of cubes is desired, the longer rid may be used.

Generally it will be understood that modifications may be made in ourinvention without departing from the spirit thereof, and that we do notintend to limit ourselves otherwise than as pointed out in the claimsattached hereto.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination with an ice cube tray, a grid comprising a divider andfins, said grid being of a length which is an aliquot part of the lengthof said tray, and a member separate from said grid and straddling saiddivider, and having legs entering between adjacent fins, the bottoms ofsaid legs being turned outwardly from said divider, and means pivotallymounted on said member and having an eccentric portion to cooperate withsaid divider for producing.

relative movement between said grid and said member.

2 In combination with an ice cube tray, a grid comprising a divider andfins, said divider having an upwardly curved portion, and a memberinterfitting therewith and having outwardly turned portions extendingsubstantially along the floor of said tray between said fins, and meanspivotally mounted on said member and havingan eccentric portion tocooperate with said curved portion on said grid for producing relativemovement between said grid and said member.

ROLAND H. MONEY. HOMER JONES.

